In order of importance......Please list...
 

When talking about the lands you currently hunt.....please list, in order of importance, WHY you hunt the lands you do.

Here's mine:

1. Access (naturally)
2. Proximity to home (convenience)
3. Deer numbers (worthwhile - possibility of success /time invested)
4. Size of bucks (trophy potential)

I've had plenty of people tell me that the land my family owns is probably my BEST opportunity to take a "really good" buck, and the sign, there, is incredible. It's also 45 minutes from my home. If I hunt it this year.....it'll be less than 5 times, max. It's just not that important, to ME (trophy potential).

How about you? What makes you hunt where you do?

RE: In order of importance......Please list...
 

1.Hunter Numbers ( I hunt a lot of state/federal land)
2.Deer numbers
3. Proximity to Home
4. Trophy Potential

RE: In order of importance......Please list...
 

#1 Im the only person that hunts it.

2. It's out the back door.

3. The terrain is Ideal. (one slight uphill grade) To give you an Idea, it used to be an airport.

4. I see more bucks than does... so I know the "potential" for a good one is there. I just wish there were more "deer" in general.

RE: In order of importance......Please list...
 

1. Its Public Land since I don't have access to any other
2. It is close to home--15 minutes
3. The overall size of the base keeps things fresh in terms of finding new areas
4. It has 5-6 areas that are bow only, so when gun season opens I can find refuge in those areas.

RE: In order of importance......Please list...
 

Public land (a lot of acreage)
Bowhunting only (very little pressure)
Close to home (13 miles away)
A lot of deer (great habitat)
Bowhunting only (very little pressure), oh, I already said that.;):D

RE: In order of importance......Please list...
 

1. Big Critters roam it
2. I'm the only one that hunts it
3. I can find golf balls at the same time
4. I walk out the door from work and I'm in the woods
5. I know it like my living room.

RE: In order of importance......Please list...
 

3. Deer numbers (worthwhile - possibility of success /time invested)
4. Size of bucks (trophy potential)
2. Proximity to home (convenience)
1. Access (naturally)

RE: In order of importance......Please list...
 

1. Access
2. Able to spend time with friends/family while there
3. Ability to improve and manage the property
4. Lack of pressure/ability to control pressure
5. Size of bucks

RE: In order of importance......Please list...
 

1. Close to home so I can hunt it daily if I choose.

RE: In order of importance......Please list...
 

1. Deer numbers (worthwhile - possibility of success /time invested)
2. Size of bucks (trophy potential)
3. Lease Price
4. Proximity to home (convenience)

I lease several farms, I will not even consider the property if 1 and 2 are not what I am looking for. After that the price is what I look at. Here in Illinois, people can and do get crazy with the amount of money they want to hunt their ground and I refuse to pay crazy money. This is why number 4 is so far down on my list. I am more than willing to drive 2-3 hours for a piece of ground that had the number/quality I want, as well as a price I can afford.

RE: In order of importance......Please list...
 

1. Exclusive access (I am the only one with permission to hunt it)
2. Safety (The only other hunters I will have to worry about is trespassers)
3. Convenience (The furthest area is one mile from the house & most of it surrounds my house)
4. Lack of Pressure (Some of the land has not been hunted in 30+ years)
5. Size of Bucks (Yes, size does matter no matter what your other half says)
6. Number of deer (The population is huge)

#1 & #2 tie in together and are definately the most important to me.

RE: In order of importance......Please list...
 

2. Proximity to home (convenience)
1. Access (naturally)
3. Deer numbers (worthwhile - possibility of success /time invested)
4. Size of bucks (trophy potential)

Almost like yours, I need to hunt the land in my backyard because I cant drive, sigh

RE: In order of importance......Please list...
 

#1 access-affordability ( leases in Tx ain't cheap!)
#2 access-affordability
#3 access-affordability......... I guess you get the picture.

RE: In order of importance......Please list...
 

Family Cabin land 186 acres
1. The ability to hunt and spend time with buddies and family.
2. The opportunity to try to improve and manage the land. (plots, minerals)
3. Opportunity to take a good buck.

Con, its pressured on every border.

Access land
1. I am one of few that have permission.
2. Location. After work I can be to anyone of three 55 to 100 acre spots in 15-20minutes. (one new one this year that I can walk to from my house)
3. Buck protential.

RE: In order of importance......Please list...
 

1. It's close
2. lots of deer
3. big bucks
4. Know the land well, very well
5. Free!!

RE: In order of importance......Please list...
 

1. Big Buck Potential.
2. Proximity to home.

Those are my only two requirements, I like hunting close to home because I can pull off the after work hunts. but I will go to great extents to harvest a big buck. Once I put a nanny in the freezer its go time.

RE: In order of importance......Please list...
 

1. I own it
2. I set the rules for my management plan
3. Good friends
4. Great cabin to stay at.

RE: In order of importance......Please list...
 

I hunt several different properties, for various reasons. So I’ll list why I hunt each.

Starting with what I call my best spot


Few other bowhunters
I know the land intimately.
Lots of deer
good trophy potential
I’ve been hunting there all my life.[/ol]

2nd spot


close to home( < 5 minutes)
Access-It’s next to impossible to come by where I live. [/ol]
Anything else I list is moot, because if it had 3 deer & no bucks on it, or 100 deer & 50 P&Y, it’s still the only place I can access close to home so I’d hunt it. It has moderate deer numbers and very good trophy potential.

3rd spot


Few to no other hunters
The land owner wants me to kill the deer
It provides a change of pace
Just in case I ever need to rely on this land for future hunting, I like to keep relations up. Hopefully it will never come to that though. [/ol]

RE: In order of importance......Please list...
 

1. Trophy Potential
2. Very limited access - during archery season I'm usually by myself.

If time is limited, then I have 2-3 other choices based on proximity.

RE: In order of importance......Please list...
 

Lease in GA:

1) Close to home.
2) reasonable lease price.
3) Good 'fill the freezer' type deer population.
4) good folks to hunt with.

Leasein Illinois:

1) Big Buck potential
2) Lease - (i.e. not an outfitter)
3) Reasonable price
4) Good folks to hunt with.

RE: In order of importance......Please list...
 

1. Close To Home (convenience)
2. Not Pressured much (see more deer)
3. Alot of deer (see at least 20 deer a night)
4. size of bucks (trophy potential)
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RE: In order of importance......Please list...
 

Its alot of private land to hunt in Bucks and Montco PA. Which is very hard to come by. I thank The Lord and the Deer Gods everyday!! They are close to Home too:D

Hatchet Jack

RE: In order of importance......Please list...
 

1. ITS FREE (to me)......PRIVATE LAND!!

RE: In order of importance......Please list...
 

!. Number of deer
2. Big buck potential

RE: In order of importance......Please list...
 

1. Permission to hunt
2. Convenience-from home
3. # of other hunters
4. # of trophy deer
5. type of hunting allowed in area (bow only-and where I am from in MO there are alot of areas like this holding trophies which don't get pressured during gun season)
6. # of deer.

Ryan

RE: In order of importance......Please list...
 

3
4
2
1

RE: In order of importance......Please list...
 

Although one should note.. my spots change on a yearly and often monthly fashion.

Order of importance. None really.

I hunt (along with Justin) some of the worst properties you will ever find. I honestly have spots with only 4 or 5 acres of woods all in fencerows spread out over 100 acres. Trespassers are a normal occurence even on this land.. unleashed dogs.. Donkeys.. horse back riders.. snowmobilers.. ATVer's... thieves etc. Welcome to big city hunting.

Permission is favored most by me. So I guess access is number 1.

I do travel to hunt.. but not because of larger deer (although it plays a big role) I travel to get away from all the stuff I have to put up with on a constant basis.. and I get to see MUCH more wildlife in the country rather than outside the city.

Try being in the woods on a November morning near 1,000 roads and 4 major Chicago highways within a large sprawled out "progress" setting and then try to hear a deer walk. You almost can't.[&o]

For me the traveling is a welcome to get away from the masses and get on bigger animals.

And I'd love to travel closer to home. But in Illinois.. near Chicago.. the rich buy and lease all the good land within 2-2.5 hours of it's downtown (and thats getting larger). You simply have to go further to find land.

That's the unpublished truth about Illinois.

RE: In order of importance......Please list...
 

The only one I worry about is proximity to my home. It has to be close enough to make it worth my while. Like I can hunt it whenever I want after work or something. I can't afford to take time off work to hunt.

Oh, and it has to be free. I won't lease land unless it's really cheap, like say 50 bucks a year or something. Anything beyond that and it simply isn't worth my time.

Paul